What Research Says About Grade Retention and the 3D Learner Approach

What Research Says About Grade Retention — Very Little Benefits, If Any

This article looked at research on grade retention looked at research over a long period of time. Research on grade retention can show any conclusion you want, but this article on grade retention research draws one critical conclusion …

“overall the preponderance of evidence argues that students who repeat a grade are no better off, and are sometimes worse off, than if they had been promoted with their classmates.”

The article continues …

What’s One to Do?

For most students struggling to keep up, retention is not a satisfactory solution. Nor is promotion. Juxtaposing the two as if these are the only options casts the debate in the wrong terms. The challenge is figuring out what it takes to help failing students catch up. Understanding why a particular student has fallen behind points to the best course of action.

For many students, especially those who start school far behind their peers, intensive intervention, even prior to kindergarten, may be the best path to success. For students who are frequently absent, understanding and addressing the reasons for their absences might be the solution.

Retention usually duplicates an entire year of schooling. Other options—such as summer school, before-school and after-school programs, or extra help during the school day—could provide equivalent extra time in more instructionally effective ways. Without early diagnosis and targeted intervention, struggling students are unlikely to catch up whether they are promoted or retained.

The 3D Learner Approach to Beat Grade Retention

Third grade retention has been the rage in Florida since 2003. Now, we are seeing more first grade retention and second grade retention. With the new cut scores in 2016, we expect to see third grade retention rise by 50%.

The single biggest cause of grade retention is low reading comprehension.

One approach is to challenge grade retention — here is an article on 10 Ways to Fight Grade Retention by WrightsLaw — an excellent special education law practice.

We believe it is far better to focus on both Success by Third Grade and on improving reading comprehension; otherwise, your child may struggle for years to come.

Why Success by Third Grade

Research shows that over 70% of the students with a reading disability (dyslexia) in 3rd grade will have reading disability (dyslexia) in 1th grade

In our world, third grade retention policies could and should have led to a sharp focus on success by third grade — but it has not. In Florida, there has never been a goal to improve reading proficiency rates in third grade. We have pushed for the goal at the state level, but been unsuccessful. We tend to believe that if the state dramatically improved their Success by Third Grade rate, it would damage the privatization effort. Therefore, …

Success by Third Grade needs to be a parent driven initiative. We know that:

– Informed, Empowered and Proactive parents can make the difference

– If you know how your child learns best, what is holding your child back and your child’s present level of reading comprehension you will be prone to act

– It is our passion to help as many students as possible to achieve success by third grade

To make the situation clearer to you, we would like to offer you at no cost:

– A downloadable copy of our short book “Success by 3rd Grade

– A Success Assessment that screens to see if your child learns differently and if your child has an eye-teaming or attention challenge